Is Sferics Equipment Still Needed in the Cockpit?

It depends on the mission and how much money you’re willing to spend.

Scott Dennstaedt, Ph.D

Wednesday, July 03, 2024 at 01:47 PM ET

Verified

Edited By: tccjeremy

[Courtesy: Scott Dennstaedt]

Key Takeaways:

Sferics devices like Stormscopes provide valuable real-time, high-resolution lightning detection, including intracloud strikes, which ground-based systems often lack or present with significant delay and lower resolution.
Ground-based lightning, while accurate in strike location, is typically delayed, delivered in a lower-resolution gridded format, and may not be available at low altitudes.
Despite the availability of ground-based lightning, a sferics device remains a beneficial real-time gross vectoring aid for assessing thunderstorm activity and intensity, especially when complemented by datalink weather solutions.

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Question: Now that ground-based lightning has made its way into our cockpits, is there still a need for a sferics device such as a Stormscope?

Answer: It depends on your mission and how many Ben Franklins you have to spare. Your sferics (short for radio atmospherics) equipment may represent the only real-time weather you’ll ever see in your cockpit.

Sure, panel-mounted and portable weather systems deliver their product in a timely fashion, but it will never be as immediate as your sferics device. Once you understand how to interpret your real-time lightning guidance, it can become a valuable asset in your in-flight aviation toolkit.